Sheffield lawyer jailed for sex assault on girl, 15, is disbarred

A Sheffield lawyer jailed for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl has been disbarred.

The Bar Standards Board have disbarred Desmond Rosario after he was jailed for four years in 2015.

Rosario had gone on the run across the world after being accused of the sexual assault – hiding out in Holland, Canada, Turkey and Cyprus in a bid to evade justice.

A finding published by the board in light of a disciplinary hearing said Rosario had ‘engaged in conduct which was likely to diminish the trust and confidence in which the public places in him or in the profession’.

Rosario has now been expelled from the Bar, meaning he no longer has the right to practise law, but can appeal against the decision.

Rosario, who was called to the Bar in 1990, was a member of Sheffield’s now defunct Paradise Chambers.

The sexual assault on the teenage girl happened in October 2013 when Rosario visited the home of someone he knew in Sheffield and attacked that person’s 15-year-old daughter.

After being interviewed by police on November 1, 2013, Rosario, formerly of Fulwood, and now of Abbotts Wood, Heaton, Bradford, failed to appear at a court date in Leicester in June 2014 and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

But he was only found after he was featured on BBC One show Crimewatch in December 2014.

He was arrested at Birmingham Airport shortly after the programme aired.

Rosario was a former University of Sheffield law student and helped out with teaching at the university on a casual basis but was not a member of staff.

Sentencing him last year at Leicester Crown Court, Judge Simon Hammond said the attack had been described as a ‘moment of madness’ that has ruined Rosario’s professional career.

He added: “The reason this happened was because the defendant had a drink problem. He had too much to drink on that day.”

Rosario was told he will have to enlist on a sex offender register for life.